You could also swap "midfielder" with "player."
Dele Alli is England's best young midfielder playing in Turkey
- Thread starter Brwned
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Yes because thats how football works. Juve and Dortmund are better than us, PSG too.
how could we have missed such a talent .. even after his team MK Dons thrashed 4-0
He's superb. Would walk into every side in the league.
Wasnt he already a Spurs player by then and on loan?
No, they signed him like 6 months later
I can understand why Spurs fans call him better than Pogba tbf.
There is no reason why Pogba can't play the role Ali plays for Spurs. Let's give Pog another season at least, I have full faith that he will end up being better than Ali.
Yeah cause he is imo
Fergie would've bought him after his MK Don's display against us.
Fecking LvG, purveyor of youth my hole.
Fecking LvG, purveyor of youth my hole.
OptaJoeVerified account@OptaJoe 16s17 seconds ago
40 - Dele Alli (40) has had a hand in as many PL goals before turning 21 as Lampard (15), Gerrard (13) & Beckham (12) combined. Star
40 - Dele Alli (40) has had a hand in as many PL goals before turning 21 as Lampard (15), Gerrard (13) & Beckham (12) combined. Star
Because on current evidence he is miles better
He's not playing a midfield position, he's a secondary striker in the mould of Rooney or Gerrard. His instincts in the box are so good for his age. And his finishing is top drawer. As a couple posters have mentioned already, Dembele, Waynama and Erikson (who is a gem that gets lost in the side, lovely player) are the midfielders in the Spurs side that makes them tick. He played wide left last year and has improved his attacking influence higher up the pitch and more central to goal. Credit not only goes to the lad, but Pochettino as well.
Mourinho doesn't want Pogba to play that role. He wants Pogba to be an all round box to box midfielder; not a goalscoring number 10.
Mourinhos perfect team has three players - One is in the Makelele mould, one is in the Pogba mould and one is in the Alli mould.
An athletic destroyer, a technically gifted, creative and strong box to box player and a hard working goalscorer. Pogba is the second player, Alli is the latter player.
There is no reason why Jose can't play Pogba in the Lampard or Sneijder role.
There is a very logical reason. Pogba has the potential to be the world's best box to box midfielder if he sorts out his decision making. A potential that we paid £89m for.
As an attacking midfielder he has the potential to be a good Premier League player who never fulfilled said potential. He hasn't got the finishing ability or the positional intelligence to be Dele Alli in that role.
Pogba will be his own player, but the squad must be built around a few core pieces, of which he is one. Not sure Jose knows who are his core players currently at the club bar Pogba, Bailly, Ander, Rashford.
Agreed. He'll be more of a force in this squad, in this league for this manager as a b2b. Win the ball near his own box, touch, and stretch the defense with a fifty yard ball. Then next sequence support from midfield with a dink or shot.
Both Lampard and Sneijder were a mix between no.10 and a B2B. They both put in shift defensively and allowed Jose to play 4-3-3. It is the same reason why he preferred Oscar ahead of Mata at Chelsea since in his opinion former could play similar role while latter could not.
How many has he scored this season? To be honest if Pogba was playing for an opposition PL team we'd be rating him higher than we do. 7 goals and 4 assists from midfield
Alli is on 16 goals and 5 assists in the PL.
Add to that the FA Cup and CL and Alli is on 19 goals and 6 assists.
I think you realise the point I'm making, it's fairly obvious.
That's crazy good. We can't make a direct comparison to Pogba though since Alli plays with more freedom. Spurs are just better than we are all round in all honesty
My point is that Mourinho doesn't see Pogba as a Lampard or a Sneijder. Lampard was more like Alli; he was ruthlessly intelligent, had a sixth sense for being in the right place at the right time and was a great finisher. Sneijder was less powerful and more of an assister in the final third, but again filled the most offensive of the three roles.
Pogba is a different player. His biggest weakness is his intelligence and his ability to get into good positions. If our full backs have the ball, Lampard and Alli would be on the 6 yard line waiting for a tap-in or on the edge of the "D" waiting for an 18 yard shot into the corner. Both of these player's would have scored 15 goals in the PL so far this season.
There's a reason Pogba has scored 4 times in the PL this year and it isn't because we haven't created as many chances as our rivals (in fact in terms of total shots and "big" chances we're in the top 2-3). It's because he isn't a goalscorer and he hasn't got the positional or intellectual awareness to fulfil that role.
Pogba's skillset involves great technique, great strength, an ability to turn in tight areas, great ranged passing, close control and an ability to run effectively with the ball. These are skills that are tailor-made for a true box to box midfielder.
The links to Griezmann highlight to me that Mourinho sees things the same as I do. We'll play Pogba alongside either Herrera or a new midfielder, behind someone like Griezmann next season.
Pogba could be Essien on steroids; he'd be Lampard on laxatives.
No not really if you want to use that logic we beat Spurs earlier in the season
With respect this is elitist clap-trap. Top level football is not the "closed window invitations only" table it once was.
Mostly agree apart from Pogba lack intelligence. That's not true. Goal scoring is more about instinct. Zlatan is never as sharp as RVN or as good movement in the box. Zlatan is always wasteful, and kinda lazy moving inside the box. With experience & modification to his game (Capello made him do extra training with shooting & instructed him to shoot more in games) at his peak he is considered one of the best of his generation, but RVN still is more ruthless in front of goal. Zlatan's quite intelligent on & off pitch.
So Alli has this goal scoring instinct for second forward, while Pogba may improve, but there would always be more to be desired. Pogba has much more in his locker as midfielder so it's better to utilize him there
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Bizarre response and makes no sense in the context of either of my posts
Not based on this season he isn't. Alli has been class, head and shoulders above Pogba.
Put Alli in United and he wouldn't have those stats.
I judge players based on talent, not form. By your logic, Lallana and Henderson are also better than Pogba. They (probably) have better statistics too. Sorry but I just can't fathom that idea.
We've seen very little of Pogba's talent though and for me the jury is still very much out.
Talking about one players form vs another suggests a short period of time. Alli has been brilliant for the past 2 seasons.
It's like saying Griezmann was head & shoulder better than Iniesta in 14/15. Iniesta IIRC only registered 1 assist in La Liga all season & 3 goals in all competitions! Different role, different function to their teams.
Sometimes I don't believe people actually watch games...
Edit: Update on Iniesta stats that season: 5 assists in CL, but all 3 goals were in Copa Del Rey. 0 goals in La Liga or CL! Can't find assist stat in Copa Del Rey.
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Pogba's lack of intelligence is what is currently holding him back in the role most suited to him. Dribbling when he should pass; trying to run with the ball when he should make a cleaenace; trying a fancy flick when a weighted pass would be more impressive.
His raw attributes are phenominal. Seeing people praise Rooney's long range passing from 2012 - 2016 (after Scholes) made me think I was going insane, then I saw Pogba and remembered again what great ranged passing looked like. His ability to hold off players, dribble and hold onto the ball in tight areas likewise is great.
I've said it a few times - going to Juventus and having all the freedom in the world with little responsiblity has put his game back a couple of years. It's sharpened his strengths (which in my view would have been improved Marley by playing at a high level), but neglected the key part of his game that needed to improve to be deemed world class - his decision making.
Pogba at Juve and France was head and shoulders above Alli.
There's a reason Pogba was in the 2015 TOTY. Alli wouldn't get in there. He's a good wee player but never a world class one like Pogba is.
Stupid logic.agreedBizarre response and makes no sense in the context of either of my posts
You concluded it as decision making, then I agree. I don't think it has to do much with intelligence, but inexperience. Pogba has undergone a big transition in responsibility & role with us & France recently in 2 man midfield and that's playing along side 2 unnatural holding midfielder partner. So he has to learn in the job by himself directly from coaches' instruction with no senior holding midfielders to share some experience/ guidance. It's very different from the system Juventus used or the roles of midfielders in that system. Pogba has some Pirlo esque kind of play in him as you pointed out the difference between Rooney's Holywood pass vs Pogba's ones.
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Some frankly hilarious posts here lads. Oh and let's keep the focus on Alli and not Pogba (amazingly all this was not started by a Spurs fan also)
Probably worth remembering that this is a United forum. People will always compare United players in threads about players from other teams
Someone went off the mark & couldn't distinguish roles thus starting the discussion with Pogba to play Alli's role. Just put thing into perspective: different roles, different attributes.
As pointed out, England NT used Alli wrongly but overcrowded the forwards area. He can benefit more from more midfielders & play maker than being assigned to do it.